Kiss River by Diane Chamberlain Read Free Book Online Page B

plate.
    “Huckleberry waffles,” Lacey said, looking at him, and he knew she had been up early, picking the huckleberries from the bushes at the edge of the woods and kneading her bread dough.
    Gina glanced up at him. “They’re delicious,” she said, reaching for the syrup with the slender ruby-ringed hand that had touched him in his sleep. She had the phone book open on the table next to her plate, her finger marking her place on one of the yellow pages. The portable phone rested next to the book, and her large, heavy camera hung around her neck.
    He merely nodded at the women as he walked outside with Sasha. Standing on the porch, he breathed in the already hot morning air as the Lab ran off to the woods. Sasha reappeared, running across the sandy yard, then leaping up the porch steps with one wild jump before stopping short in front of the screen door. He sat down, as he’d been trained to do, turning his head to look at his master, waiting for him to enter the kitchen first. Sasha knew very well the pecking order in this house.
    Lacey already had Sasha’s food in the bowl, and the dog dived into it with gusto.
    Gina laughed. “I’ve never seen a dog eat like that,” she said.
    “Do you have a dog?” Clay poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from her. He reached for the handle on the waffle iron and looked at his sister. “Is this ready yet?” he asked.
    “Wait till the steam stops.” Lacey put a plate in front of him and sat down again herself.
    “When I was a kid,” Gina said. “I don’t have one now. I work long hours, so it wouldn’t be fair.”
    Clay opened the waffle iron and used his fork to extract the berry-marbled waffle from the grill. “What are you looking for in the phone book?” he asked.
    “A room,” she said. “I tried a couple of places already, but noluck. I thought I’d try this place next.” She looked down at the book. “Suiter’s Inn.”
    “No, not that one,” Clay said.
    “Is that the one near Shorty’s Grill?” Lacey asked him, and he nodded. “It’s a bit seedy, Gina. You shouldn’t stay there.”
    “I can’t pay a lot,” Gina said, her finger still on the page in the phone book. “I might have to settle for something a little less luxurious than the Ritz.”
    “What area do you want to be in?” Clay asked.
    Gina shrugged. “Near Kiss River, I guess. But anyplace on the northern part of the Outer Banks would do.”
    “Maybe there’s a cottage available,” Clay said. “Maybe someone had to cancel their reservation at the last minute. That happens. Then you’d have something for a week or two. How long were you planning to stay?”
    “No more than that,” she said.
    “I’ll try Nola,” Lacey said, reaching across the table for the phone.
    “Who’s Nola?” Gina asked.
    “An old family friend,” Lacey said, dialing. “She’s also a Realtor and she’d be able to find out what’s available.”
    Gina and Clay ate quietly while Lacey spoke with Nola. She pulled the phone book toward her to write a few notes in the margin of the page, but from the conversation, Clay could tell that the news was not good. Lacey hung up the phone and wrinkled her freckled nose at their guest.
    “She could only find one cottage available,” she said, reading from her notes. “It’s soundside in Duck and it’s sixteen hundred dollars a week.”
    Gina shook her head. “I can’t do it, then,” she said. “But if I can’t find something here, maybe there’d be a room available on the other side of that long bridge. That would be close enough, and—”
    “Stay here,” Clay said, the words surprising him as they slipped out of his mouth. He didn’t need to look at Lacey to know she was astonished by the invitation, but he also knew she wouldn’t mind. She’d probably been thinking the same thing herself, but had been afraid to suggest it because of how he mightreact. “You can rent the room you’re in for a hundred a week,” he